Remote control boat bailer



Oct. 17, 1961 MOELLER 3,004,511

REMOTE CONTROL BOAT BAILER Filed April 22, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 UMKIIIIIIIIIIIIIII;

3 I 30 38 *1 7 2a, 3/ 3,4 36 so 30 I7 4/ INVENTOR AXEL MOELLER 4 T f 6;

ATTORNEY A. MQELLER REMOTE CONTROL BOAT BAILER Oct. 17, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 22, 1960 INVENTOR AXEL MOELLER @fi M 7Q' ATTORNEYS .an open or closed position, as desired. I 1 Still another object of my present invention is to pro- United States Patent 9 Filed Apr. 22 1960, Ser. No. 23,947

Claims. (Cl. 114 -185 I This invention appertains to boat bailers, and. more particularly to a new andimproved remote control bailer valve construction. I

Almost all present day powered boats are provided with an opening in the transom or stern of the boat and some sort of plug or valve for the opening, so that bilge water can be moved out of the boat whilethe boat is V in motion, and so that the opening can be plugged when the boat is at rest, thus preventing seepage of water back into the boat. 1

The removal of the plug from the opening is difficult, particularly .due to the fact that the opening is usually locatedunder and in back of the sterniseat and this necessitates the bending down and groping for the plug and replacingand' removing'thereof is thus' rendered diflicult. Therefore, attempts have been made in :the past to provide means for opening and closing the opening from a position remote therefrom, but here again a boat.

Anotherimportant object of my present invention is to provide a remote controlled bailer for motor boats in which the operable parts thereof are located primarily above the water line and are positive in their operation.

A further object of my present invention is to provide a bailer plug which always seats properly on the thimble or opening located in the stern of the boat and is precision built so as to assure this proper fit.

Another object of my invention is to provide means whereby the bailer valve or plug may be held in either vide novel means whereby if the remote control mecha-.

nism should be broken or dam-aged, the bailer plug or valve will automatically assume a closed position,

A salient feature of my present invention resides in the fact that my novel boat bailer can be attached to the transom or stern of a boat by the ordinary layman.

and provision being made whereby if the valve seat or thimble located in the boat is damaged, a new seat may be quickly and easily installed. v

A further object of my present invention is to proerating means so that a perfect fit will be had.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a bailer which is simple in construction, reliable in its operation and not liable to get out of order.

With these and other objects in view and to the end vide means whereby when the new seat is utilized my .valveplug can be adjusted in conjunction with the opafter described, pointed out in the claims andillustrated novel bailer plug in its operable position, and also dis- 3,004,51 l Patented Oct. 17, 1961 angles to FIGURE 1 throughmy novel boat bailer, the

section being represented by the line 33 of FIGURE 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken through-the stern or transom of the boat the section being represented by the line 4--4 of FIGURE 1 of the drawings, and looking in the direction of the arrows, and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view similar to FIGURE I of the drawings, but illustrating my novel valve opening attachment and the plug being adjusted to seat perfectly on the attached valve .seat.

Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several views, the letter B generally indicates one type of my improved boat bailer valve construction and the letter H designates my remote control handle mechanism. The particular construction of the boat forms no part of the present invention but for purposes of illustration, the numeral 10 indicates the stern or transom of the boat and the numeral 11 indicates the bottom or floor of the boat. In the usual construction the stern or transom 10 is provided with a metal valve opening or thimble 12 and this thimble is placed in an opening located at the stern and the lower portion of the boat, as indicated by the numeral 13. This thimble is also rolled at its outer and inner peripheries in particular to give a valve seat 14 as shown. As previously stated, all of the above is standard with most power boats and then, of course, some means is provided whereby the opening 15 can be closed and opened as desired. Also as mentioned before, the aperture or opening 15 is opened only when the boat is in motion, so that bilge water can be drained out of the stern of the boat due to the forward movement of the boat and this opening usually rests below thewater line when the boat is not in motion, and therefore, this opening is plugged when the boat is at rest.

tion above the thimble 12 and most of the time the operable parts are above the water thus increasing the life of the bailer immeasurably.

My novel bailer B therefore, includes generally a bracket '17 which is bolted or otherwise secured to the inner side 18 of the transom 10, a pivoting lever 19 to one end of which is secured my novel valve 16, and to the other end of which is secured the remote control wire 20. This remote control'wire 20 leads to the operating handle 21, which is locatedin the dash 22 of the boat. I also provide novel spring means 23 which will should the wire break or become damaged.

urge'the valve or'plug 16 to seat, on the valve seat 1 The valve plug 16, lever 19 and remote control Wire are carried by the bracket 17 and this bracket in turn is secured to the transom' 10 ofthe boat in a position above the aperture 15, as shown in PIGS. 1 and 5 of the drawings. Bracketyl7 isU-shape in cross-section, note FIG. 4, to provide the inwardly extending sides :24 and 25,

3 respectively, and .one leg of the bracket 26 is secured to a flat rectangular plate 27 and the upper leg 28 extends inwardly at an angle therefrom. The plate 27 is further secured to the transom or stern of the boat by means of the wood screws 30.

The valve lever 19 is pivotally carried by. the bracket 17 at its lower end 31 and for this purpose I provide a pair of aligned apertures 32 and 33. respectively,.and these apertures are provided at the end terminations of each side member 24 and 25 respectively. The purpose of the two pairs of apertures will become apparent as the description proceeds. In any event, in that form of the invention shown in FIGURE 1 of the drawings, and assuming that the valve seat 14 of the thimble 12 is in good shape and repair, the lever 19 is pivoted by means of the pivot pin 34, which is passed through the aligned apertures 32 and this pin has a head 35 on one end thereof and is secured by means of a cotter pin 36 or the like at the other end thereof, and thus the lever 19 is pivotally secured to the bracket. This lever in turn includes a lower leg 37 and an upper leg 38 extending inwardly and angularly therefrom. The lower leg 37 carries the resilient valve plug 16 and obviously, this plug can be secured to the leg in any convenient manner.

However, I have illustrated a headed pin 40 which passes through apertures 40' provided in the leg 37 and in a washer 41. The valve plug is then secured by means of the nut 42 received over its threaded end 43 and tightened against the inner surface of leg 37. The spring 23, actually in the preferred form of my invention, is mounted as illustrated in FIG. 5 of the drawings, so that it exerts pressure on the leg 38 at substantially right angles thereto. However, in FIGURES 1 to 4 of the drawings, I have illustrated a modified means for mounting the spring so that the spring exerts pressure at an angle to leg 38. In any event, in both cases I provide an elongated hollow tube 43 and this tube is pivoted at one end 44 to the bracket 17. In FIGURES l to 4, this pivot point is indicated by the numeral 45 and mounted on the leg 38 is a bracket 46 having an upwardly extending leg 47 against which one end of the spring 23 rests. It should be noted that the spring is received over and about the tubular member 43' so that it cannot become dislodged during the movement or compression thereof. The upper surface 48 of the leg 38 is provided with two elongated openings 49' and 50 respectively located adjacent the end 51 of the leg. The opening 49 is provided to allow freedom of movement of the tube 43' as it pivots when the valve lever is moved from its full line position to its dotted line position, FIGURE 1 of the drawings, and pivotally connected to the outer end 51 is a fitting 52 which receives one end termination of the of bracket 17 by means of the fitting 56 and from there the flexible wire 20 and its cover 57 lead to my operating handle mechanism H secured to the dash 22 of the boat.

From the description so far, it should be obvious that as the wire 20 is moved in the direction of the upper arrow FIGURE 1 of the drawings, it will pull the leg 38 inwardly and move the leg 37 away from the valve seat 14 so that the plug 16 will now be free of the aperture and water'may drain from the rear of the boat, as desired. The description further shows that if the pull of the wire is released for any reason, the spring 23 exerting pressure against the leg 38 will move the valve plug 16 to its proper seat and close ,the aperture or port 15.

Now in order to facilitate the movement of the wire to operate the valve lever, I attach the opposite end 60 of the wire to an elongated rectangular shaped rod 61 and it is to the outer end of this rod 61 that the handle is attached. It should be obvious that pushing and pulling on the handle 21 will move the wire within its flexible covering 57 and thus operate the valve plug remotely as desired. The particular remote control fitting forms no part of the present invention, and I have illustrated a standard type of remote control mechanism H. For the purposes of description, however, this remote control mechanism includes the bushing 62 which secures the flexible wire cover 57 through set screws 63 to a tubular casing 64. The bushing in turn is fitted over the tubular casing 64 and secured thereto by set screws 65. The tubular casing 64 is in turn secured to the dash 22 and extends therethrough and is externally threaded to receive the two fittings 66 and 67 located on either side of the dash 22. Tightening of these fittings 66 and 67 will position the tubular casing properly in its relation to the dash 22. I also provide means whereby. the handle 21 maybe locked in either an open or closed position, as desired. This means is also standard and merely includes a tapered seat 68 on the inner dash end of the casing 64. It should further be noted that the inner bore of the fitting 66 is threaded as indicated at 69 and within this bore is received four split sections 70, note FIGURES 1 and 2, of the drawings. Each of these split sections 70 is provided with an enlarged threaded end 71 and a tapered end 72 which seats and corresponds to the taper 68 of the housing 64. These split sections 70 are provided with flat inner portions 73 which rest on a respective surface of the rectangular rod 61. Thus it can be seen that simply turning the rod 61 through the handle 21 will rotate the split sections 70 and due to the threaded end 71 these split sections will be moved toward and away from the taper seat 68. Thus, the tapered sections 70 will either be tight against the rectangular rod 60 and hold it against movement, or will be loosened to provide a free operating movement of the rod. Thus the rod and handle 21 can be locked by rotating the handle in either an operative or inoperative position. In any event, should the rod or handle 21 be'locked in an open position so that the valve plug 16 is in its dotted line position, FIGURE 1, and the wire break or come loose for any reason, it can be seen that the spring 23 will automatically seat the plug 16 and close the port or opening 15.

It should also be noted that all of the working parts, with the exception of the valve plug 16 are preferably formed from brass so as to aid in the resistance of the device to rust andcorrosion, but for this purpose the salient feature of my invention must be kept in mind, and that is, that the bracket is mounted well above the thimble 12 to move the valve plug 16 from its seated to its unseated position in such a manner that the majority of the parts are located well above the bilge water line, thus increasing the life of the bailer.

Another important feature of my present invention resides in the fact that my novel bailer mechanism can be easily secured in place by the ordinary layman and furnished as a unit so-thatall that is necessary is to secure the rectangular plate 27 to the stern of the boat in proper position above the port or aperture 15. However, in some cases it may be found that the thimble 12 or valve seat 14 thereof is damaged or rough and there fore would constantly leak and not provide a proper seat for the valve plug 16. In thatcase', Iprovide a new valve seat which can be easily secured in proper position in relation to the thimble 12. For this purpose, attention is directed to FIGURE 5 of the drawings, showing the stern or transom 10, the bottom 11 of the boat and thimble 12 in its proper position and assuming that the valve seat 14 thereof is in a damaged condition. I therefore provide a rectangular plate 75 about the outer periphery of which I secure a rubber gasket or sealing member 76. The center of this plate is provided with a rounded valve seat 77 to correspond and properly seat the valve plug 16. Therefore the plate 75 is merely placed in position with the valve seat and aperture 77 goo 1,511

in proper alignment with the valve seat 14 of the thinrble 12 so that its opening corresponds to the port or opening 15 thereof. All other parts of my novel bailer B are identical except that it should be obvious that the plug 16 might not seat properly and be in proper alignment if the valve lever 19 were pivoted through the aligned apertures 32. Therefore, I move the pivot pin 34 to position through the apertures 33 and this gives a proper seating of the valve plug 16.

The tube 43, spring 23 and all other parts as previously mentioned, are identical but in the preferred form I prefer to pivot the tube to the leg 23 of the bracket 17 at a point 78 so that the spring exerts a direct pressure on the upper surface 48 of the leg 38. It is now obvious, that by pulling the wire inwardly, the valve lever will pivot at 33 and unseat the valve plug 16 from the aperture 77 of plate 76. Thus this functions in the same manner as that form of the invention described in FIGURES l to 4, inclusive.

While I have shown and described certain specific ernbodiments of my invention, it will be understood that these embodiments are merely for the purpose of illustr-ation and description, that various other forms may be devised and that changes may be made in the proportion and minor details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention, or scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A remote controlled boat bailer characterized by the fact that the majority 'of operating parts are located above the bilge water and drain opening located in the stern of the boat comprising, a bracket secured to said stern board above said stern drain opening, said bracket being U-shaped in cross-section and including a depending leg terminating adjacent and above said drain opening, an upwardly and inwardly extending leg above and at an angle to said first mentioned leg, a valve seat for said drain opening, a valve lever pivotally secured to said first mentioned bracket leg adjacent the lower end termination thereof, said valve lever having a downwardly extending leg terminating in alignment with said valve seat and drain opening and an angularly extending upper leg, a valve plug secured to said downwardly extending valve lever leg and adapted to open and close said drain opening and to fit said valve seat, a tubular member pivoted at one end to said upwardly extending bracket leg and projecting through an enlarged aperture in said upper valve lever leg, a spring received over said tubular member and carried between the said respective legs constantly urging said valve plug to its closed seated position, an operating handle secured to said boat dash remote from said valve means, and means connected to said valve lever extending to said dash and connected to said operating handle, whereby, said valve plug may be moved from its open to its closed position by movement of said operating handle.

2. A remote controlled boat bailer as set forth in claim 1 wherein said valve seat includes a separate flat plate having an open valve seat therein and secured adjacent said drain opening, sealing means between said plate and said drain opening whereby leakage about the peripheral outer surface of the plate will be prevented,

. and means for moving the pivot point of said valve lever to assure the proper seating of the valve plug on said valve seat,

3. In combination with a boat having a stern board provided with a drain opening, of a remote controlled bailer characterized by the fact that the majority of the bailer parts are located above the drain opening, including a bracket mounted on said stern board above said drain opening, .a valve plug pivotally carried by said bracket and adapted to seat and unseat against said drain opening, and means secured to the dash of said boat for positively moving said valve plug to and from its seated position, and said bracket including a plate secured to said stern board, a substantially vertically extending leg secured to said plate and terminating adjacent to and above said drain opening, and a second leg extending angularly upward and inwardly from said first mentioned leg.

4. In combination with a boat having a stern board provided with a drain opening, of a remote controlled bailer characterized by the fact that the majority of the bailer parts are located above the drain opening, including a bracket mounted on said stern board above said drain opening, a valve lever pivotally carried by said bracket, the pivot point of said valve lever being above said drain opening, a valve plug carried by said valve lever and adapted to seat and unseat against said drain opening, and means secured to the dash of said boat for positively moving said valve plug to and from its seated position, said bracket including a plate secured to said stern board, a depending leg secured to said plate and terminating adjacent to and above said drain opening and a second leg extending angularly upward and inwardly from said first leg and said valve lever being pivoted to the lower end of said firs-t mentioned leg and having a downwardly extending leg carrying said valve plug.

5. The combination with a boat having a stern board provided with a drain opening, of a remote controlled bailer characterized by the fact that the majority of the bailer parts are located above the drain opening, including a bracket having a depending lower leg secured to the stern board above said drain opening and an upper leg extending upwardly and forwardly away from the stern board, a valve lever including a lower arm extending downwardly toward the drain opening and an upper angled arm extending upwardly and away from the stern board substantially in the same direction as the upper leg of the bracket, means rockably mounting the lever at the point of juncture of its arms on the 'lower leg of the bracket, whereby upon movement of the lever its lower arm will be swung toward and away from the opening, a valve member carried by the lower arm of the lever for closing and opening the drain opening, spring means between the upper leg of the bracket and the upper arm of the lever normally urging the lower arm with the valve member toward the drain opening, and means for operating the lever against the tension of the spring including a flexible cable connected to the upper arm of the lever and guided through the upper leg of the bracket.

Rohrer June 20, 1922 Pribyl June 2, 1959 

